School has been out for a couple of weeks now, and kids are starting to get bored with the rest and relaxation summer days can provide. If parents find their children getting restless and ready for something to do, activities supervisor for the Recreation Department Ronna Stump has a few suggestions that will get the kids out from in front of the television – beginning next week.

Starting Monday, tennis lessons will begin at Blue Bonnet Park. The fee is $13 and the only things participants are required to provide would be a can of tennis balls. If a child does not have a racket, Stump said the rec department will have no trouble providing them with one.

“We have two sessions, one in June starting June the 1st through the 18th, it is Monday through Thursday,” she said. “We start from five years old through high school.

“The times are different for each class,” she continued. “We start at

8 in the morning and go until noon, and every class is an hour long.”

Beginning Tuesday, a brand new class for Liberal will be presented at the rec center. The basic jujitsu defense class will be directed by John Lucas who came to Stump and actually presented the class.

“The basic jujitsu defense class is a brand new program. Its director is John Lucas,” she said. “It is for boys, girls and adults 7 years old and up. We will be doing that on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 8:30 starting June 2. The fee is $10 per person.

“It is very basic self defense, kicks and some take downs,” she added. “We have done some things in the past that are similar, but this is a brand new one. John Lucas is the assistant manager at Wal- Mart. He came and visited with us about it, and we said ‘great!’

Swimming lessons will also be available closer to the end of the month of June. Of course, Stump said, whether or not the first session takes place depends solely on the pool being finished in time. If not, she said, it will be postponed.

“We will have two sessions,” she said. “One starting June 22 to July

2 and the next session is July 13 through the 24th. The cost is $15 per person. They have to be five years old and up to start regular swimming lessons, but we do have a parent and child lesson for four years old and under on the same days for the same price. The parent has to get into the water with the child.

“We hope for it to be at the new pool,” she continued. “If it isn’t open, we will just postpone the first one and we will definitely let everyone know.”

The rec center will be carrying out the swimming lessons on behalf of the Red Cross. Stump said there will be three Red Cross certified instructors on hand for the lessons.

“I think it is going to be great,” she said. “You never know when you might get into a situation, so it is important to know how to swim.”

According to Stump, these classes, with the exception of jujitsu, have been available every summer and have always had a good turn out – as well as appreciation on behalf of the parents who get their children involved.

“I have always had these classes, other than the jujitsu – that is a new one,” she said. “Parents really appreciate the instructors that we find and they do really appreciate that we do this so kids can be exposed to different things.”

Stump is in the process of planning more activities for the month of July. However, she said, she is continually open for suggestions from the community.

“Year round we are always open to suggestions,” she said. “Any suggestion, we will look at it to see if it is feasible and to see if we can do it.”

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The High Plains Daily Leader and Southwest Daily Times are published Sunday through Friday and reaches homes throughout the Liberal, Kansas retail trade zone. The Leader & Times is the official newspaper of Seward County, USD No. 480, USD No. 483 and the cities of Liberal and Kismet. The Leader & Times is a member of the Liberal Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Press Association and the Associated Press.

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